Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina was running third, a sharp setback in the state where he was born and scored a primary victory in his first presidential campaign four years ago.

The Associated Press made its call based on surveys of voters as they left the polls.

About half the voters were black, according to polling place interviews, and four out of five of them supported Obama. Black women turned out in particularly large numbers. Obama, the first-term Illinois senator, got a quarter of the white vote while Clinton and Edwards split the rest.

The victory was Obama's first since he won the kick-off Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, scored an upset in the New Hampshire primary a few days later. They split the Nevada caucuses, she winning the turnout race, he gaining a one-delegate margin. In a historic race, she hopes to become the first woman to occupy the White House, and Obama is the strongest black contender in history.

The South Carolina primary marked the end of the first phase of the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, a series of single-state contests that winnowed the field, conferred co-front-runner status on Clinton and Obama but had relatively few delegates at stake.

That all changes in 10 days' time, when New York, Illinois and California are among the 15 states holding primaries in a virtual nationwide primary. Another seven states and American Samoa will hold Democratic caucuses on the same day.

All three contenders campaigned in South Carolina on primary day, but only Obama and Edwards arranged to speak to supporters after the polls closed. Clinton decided to fly to Tennessee, one of the Feb. 5 states, leaving as the polls were closing.

After playing a muted role in the earlier contests, the issue of race dominated an incendiary week that included a shift in strategy for Obama, a remarkably bitter debate and fresh scrutiny of the former president's role in his wife's campaign.

Each side accused the other of playing the race card, sparking a controversy that frequently involved Bill Clinton.

"They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender. That's why people tell me Hillary doesn't have a chance of winning here," former President Clinton said at one stop as he campaigned for his wife, strongly suggesting that blacks would not support a white alternative to Obama.

Clinton campaign strategists denied any intentional effort to stir the racial debate. But they said they believe the fallout has had the effect of branding Obama as "the black candidate," a tag that could hurt him outside the South.

Nearly six in 10 voters said the former president's efforts for his wife was important to their choice, and among them, slightly more favored Obama than the former first lady.

Overall, Obama defeated Clinton among both men and women.

The exit polls showed the economy was the most important issue in the race. About one quarter picked health care. And only one in five said it was the war in Iraq, underscoring the extent to which the once-dominant issue has faded in the face of financial concerns.

The exit poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the networks.

Clinton and Obama swapped accusatory radio commercials earlier in the week.

The former first lady aired an ad saying Obama had once approved of Republican ideas. His camp responded quickly that Clinton "will say anything." First she, then he, pulled the commercials after a short run on the air.

Given the bickering, Edwards looked for an opening to reinvigorate a candidacy all but eclipsed by the historic campaign between Obama and Clinton. He went on the "Late Show with David Letterman" at midweek to say he wanted to represent the "grown-up wing of the Democratic party."

That was one night after a finger-wagging debate in which Obama told Clinton he was helping unemployed workers on the streets of Chicago when "you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart."

Moments later, the former first lady said she was fighting against misguided Republican policies "when you were practicing law and representing your contributor ... in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago."

You know, I am pissed at how the media and specific politicians are making this whole race into a white/black issue. According to CNN, Obama has been doing well with young voters, independents and educated upper-middle-class liberals -- the NPR vote. He won every age demographic tonight in SC. But yet everyone wants to break this down into categories of race, and I find it to be rather insulting. Plus, the fact that Clinton has brought up race repeatedly, with Bill saying they didn't expect to win SC because of the black population, and the allusions to MLK Jr. and the fairy tale comments. I haven't once heard Obama alluding to her running as a female. I find that really insulting, and if I didn't have a reason to dislike Clinton before, I do now. Plus, the fact that her husband is campaigning for her drives me up the wall. Its like they are tag-teaming Obama, like he said, he has no idea who he is campaigning against these days. I find that highly inappropriate. Hillary is capable enough that she didn't have to resort to having her husband fight her battles for her, and I find that insulting as a female. But thats just me. That said, I am very happy with the results of this particular primary.

Yes the Clinton's did want, and think they were going to win South Carolina..that is why they pulled all the racial crap weeks ago with the guy from BET, they were trying to firmly get the black vote on their side. Which they thought they had by way of Bill Clinton's popularity among black voters.

Well of course she wanted to win it, everyone wants to win, but I don't believe she truly thought she would (after the polls showed Obama had a substantial lead.) Either way, Super Tuesday is far more important. So we'll have to wait and see.

Well Clinton wasn't expecting to win SC in the first place, I'm just happy she didn't come in third. She's still probably going to win the democratic nomination (no offense to any Obama supporters).

If Hillary wins the nomination then McCain is a probably going to win the presidency. Hands down. There are just too many people in America that hate Hillary with a passion to ever vote for her. If she does win the nomination, then she has no choice but to put Obama on the ticket, because she's going to need all the help she can get.

Originally Posted by SSDiva

Yes the Clinton's did want, and think they were going to win South Carolina..that is why they pulled all the racial crap weeks ago with the guy from BET, they were trying to firmly get the black vote on their side. Which they thought they had by way of Bill Clinton's popularity among black voters.

Agree 100%. They went out of their way to try and stress the point that Obama is the 'black candidate.' As if that wasn't obvious to anybody that looked at him. I mean, Obama's not running around pointing out the fact that Hillary's a woman.

And even Bill Clinton said that he may have went too far, which he did. Bill has definitely burned up some of his popularity among black voters.

^^Doubtful. Because there are Republicans, Democrats and Independents who literally despise Hillary. And the fact that she's going out of her way to keep making Obama's race an issue isn't going to win her any friends, either.

So we can assume that Edwards is now a dead duck. This is going to be SO interesting - I can't wait for Super Tuesday. Hillary and Obama are both bringing something totally unique to the decision that voters will have to make; the machiavellian but charmless white female or the smart but politically inexperienced black guy. I'm sorry to say this but I think the Race Thing will play a part in many voter's choice, as will the prospect of having some uppity woman as Supreme Commander and President. There's a LOT of rednecks out there who won't be comfortable with either of them.

Will the rednecks vote, tho? And even if they do, most racists would hold their noses and vote for a woman rather than Obama. I think people are underestimating how much race is still an issue in America, sadly.

But only time will tell. I wouldn't count Hillary out just yet. She's a bit like her hubby -- the comeback kid. And with the economy in a sorry state thanks to Bush and his war profiteering, I don't know if even a lot of Repugs are going to vote the party line.

If Hillary wins the nomination then McCain is a probably going to win the presidency. Hands down. There are just too many people in America that hate Hillary with a passion to ever vote for her. If she does win the nomination, then she has no choice but to put Obama on the ticket, because she's going to need all the help she can get.

I have to disagree with that. I believe Hillary can absolutely defeat a Repub. If it's McCain vs. Clinton (and she picks a strong VP), I believe she will win the presidency. In my opinion Obama does not have the experience needed to lead us right now, particularly in foreign policy. He makes amazing speeches, yes, but he's only a first term senator and he's been campaigning for most of that term. I think it's not his time yet. Plus really, should we be voting based on personality and ability to deliver speeches? Yes, Obama is a very charismatic man and undoubtedly a good contender for future elections, but this year I'm voting based on leadership skills and experience.

And again, nothing personal against his supporters

Originally Posted by kingcap72

^^Doubtful. Because there are Republicans, Democrats and Independents who literally despise Hillary. And the fact that she's going out of her way to keep making Obama's race an issue isn't going to win her any friends, either.

So we can assume that Edwards is now a dead duck. This is going to be SO interesting - I can't wait for Super Tuesday. Hillary and Obama are both bringing something totally unique to the decision that voters will have to make; the machiavellian but charmless white female or the smart but politically inexperienced black guy. I'm sorry to say this but I think the Race Thing will play a part in many voter's choice, as will the prospect of having some uppity woman as Supreme Commander and President. There's a LOT of rednecks out there who won't be comfortable with either of them.

You're absolutely right, race and gender will play a role in people's decision. Anybody that thinks it won't is living on fantasy island. I mean, Barack and Hillary are the first black man and female to have a real shot at the presidency, and that's going to play on people's racism and sexism.

Originally Posted by nycgirly101

I have to disagree with that. I believe Hillary can absolutely defeat a Repub. If it's McCain vs. Clinton (and she picks a strong VP contender), I believe she will win the presidency. In my opinion Obama does not have the experience needed to lead us right now. He makes amazing speeches, yes, but he's only a first term senator and he's been campaigning for most of that term. I think it's not his time yet.

And again, nothing personal against his supporters

But what a lot of Hillary supporters don't get is that the Republicans WANT Hillary to win the Democratic nomination. Because they know that a lot of people truly hate her. Not to mention, none of the Republicans want to run against Barack.

And, yeah, people keep bringing up Obama's inexperience. But here's the thing, Hillary has far more political experience than Obama, however she still voted for the Iraq war and Obama didn't. Despite all of Hillary's experience she couldn't tell that Bush was feeding her a line of b.s., but Obama, the inexperienced one, knew from the getgo and didn't vote for the war. So, sometimes experience isn't all it's cracked up to be if you can't use common sense.

I agree with you nycgirly. Hillary may lack charm and charisma, but her husband does plus he's had the Top Job before and so can provide a huge amount of political experience and they are both masters at playing the game. In these troubled times I would prefer to have Billary in charge than someone with as little experience as Obama. His time will come for sure, but he needs a lot more political miles under his belt.